Stimulants in the treatment of ADHD in childrenADHD is a common psychiatric disorder during childhood and adolescence. The increasing use of psychoactive drugs to treat children with ADHD has raised major concerns about their adverse effects. The most common adverse effects of the most frequently used product, methylphenidate, include: anorexia, weight loss, sleeping disorders and fluctuations in blood pressure.The casuistic reports of sudden death upon administering methylphenidate occur mainly in children with a cardiac risk. The use of psychoactive drugs is not linked to the risk for substance abuse disorder in later life. Thus and although methylphenidate has been proven safe, it remains important to select those children who really need medication and to evaluate carefully the advantages and the possible risks of this treatment.